The Pats turned up the heat on the Chargers when they needed to and came up with the big win. The offense showed that the Miami game wasn't a fluke and the defense came up with some big plays.
Beasts:
- Tom Brady
- Terrific Tom was terrific in a 423 yard game with 3 touchdowns and a QB rating of 135.7. There's not much more I can say other than he was great
- Vince Wilfork
- Wilfork made an interception and provided constant pressure on the Chargers offensive line. James from NEPatriotsDraft said it perfectly - "Heck with Revis Island, give me Wilfork Peninsula"
- Aaron Hernandez
Bums:
- Devin McCourty
- He was getting burned by Vincent Jackson all day. Granted Jackson is an elite talent, but McCourty should be doing better. He was having trouble finding the ball and allowed some pretty big plays to Jackson
Answers:
- Can the Pats have an active pass rush?
- Mark Anderson did get a sack... at the end of the game... Rivers did though have a man in his face all day long
- How will McCourty react from the last game?
- See above
- Will Ochocinco show up big in this one?
- Ocho had 2 big catches for 45 yards
- How will the Pats defend Antonio Gates?
- Gates was 0 for 1 and was covered all day
- Will Chung have a big game?
- When he went out with his injury, you could definitely see the impact he had, so yes he was a force
Thoughts:
- Deion Branch was great in the short time plays at the end of the second quarter
- Chad Ochocinco's two players where very good catches
- We now need another punter (possibly) and more safeties
- The defense looked like another bend no break defense today
- I was almost dead on with the score prediction
- "The Patriots lead the NFL in players where they just make it happen"
Injury Report:
- Ras-I Dowling
- Kyle Arrington
- Pat Chung
- Zoltan Mesko
Other:
- A gif of Wilfork's interception is available here
This is an archived article originally published on
September 18, 2011.
Content reflects the editorial context of its original publication date.
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